Before It All Began
by Ms. Porks
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia ran away from home, and ends up in the town of Magnolia. There, she meets Natsu Dragneel, a flame mage who is on the run because he accidentally blew up the town's church when capturing thieves, and Rupert Blackstone, a former abused servant of a rich family. How will their adventure play out? (CONTAINS NALU)
1. Escape

**Chapter 1- Escape**

"Ms. Heartfilia! Ms. Heartfilia, where are you?!"

Lucy covered her mouth in an attempt to conceal her heavy breathing. She held her Celestial Spirit keys in her right hand to prevent them from jingling. Lucy currently possessed 10 out of the 12 Golden Zodiac Keys and 5 Silver Keys. There was no way that she would return to that prison that people called a luxurious mansion with these in her possession.

"Lucy, your father is worried about you! Please come back!" The voices began to fade as the searchers moved further from her position.

 _Lies._ There was no way that that terrible, dictatorial man was worried about her. He just didn't want his perfect businessman-image to collapse.

As soon as the pursuers were out of sight, Lucy treaded softly behind the forest of trees, careful as to not make any noticeable noises. She let a sigh of relief escape her lips before carefully tip-toeing towards the nearby town that was opposite of the direction her pursuers had taken.

"Fresh fruits for sale, fresh veggies to sale! Everything for sale! Come on down now to get these items for sale!"

"Come get these beautiful dresses for a bargain price! These should not be missed out!"

Lucy looked around her. The town of Magnolia was a lively place filled with merchants and shops and stalls. She realized that not many citizens had blonde hair like hers, so she quickly bought a baseball cap worth 500 jewels and shoved her hair inside of it.

She looked in the left pocket of her white shorts. 10,000 jewels left… Why hadn't she brought more? Lucy silently cursed and vowed to plan any other run-away-ing more carefully. Not that she planned to run away again any time soon. It was a risky, tiring thing.

"Excuse me, sorry," a deep voice said. Lucy instinctively placed her hands into her pockets to secure her money and Keys and moved out of the way. A flash of pink hair caught her eyes, but when she turned around, the source of the color was gone.

An extremely loud horn made Lucy jump. "WE ARE LOOKING FOR OUR MISTRESS!" she heard.

Oh no.

Lucy covered her face and ran into a tight alleyway. She threw herself into a (not that smelly) garbage bin and closed the top, making sure that it would not lock by wedging a crushed can in between. Several shadows passed by, and a voice yelled, "She doesn't seem to be here!"

"Goddamnit, I thought we got her. The master isn't going to be pleased."

"Who cares? He's such a - anyway. We only work for him 'cause he's rich."

"SHH! There are people around, you dunce!"

Lucy waited until the voices faded once again and then relaxed. She decided to stay in the garbage bin for a little while longer just to make sure that she wouldn't be found.

After about 20 minutes, Lucy decided that it had been long enough and cracked her knuckles. Just as she was about to place her hands on the top panel, it flung open.

Lucy held in her scream.


	2. Natsu, Happy, and Rupert

**Chapter 2- Natsu, Happy, and Rupert**

"Ara? Who are you?"

Lucy blinked several times. It was definitely NOT one of the people hired to bring her back to the mansion. "Wh-who are you?" she countered, her voice shaking audibly.

The boy in front of her was handsome, very muscular and had spiky salmon-pink hair. He looked around 5'9", 5 inches taller than Lucy. He grinned widely, and his teeth were straight, white, and slightly sharp. "I'm Natsu!" He pointed to a strange-looking blue cat standing on its hind legs. "This is Happy!"

Happy lifted a paw and took out a fish from his knapsack. "Aye, sir!"

Lucy blinked several times before her eyes widened. "A talking cat?!"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Nope, nevermind. Forget it," Lucy responded, massaging her temples. "My name is Lucy H-" She stopped herself. The last name didn't matter.

Natsu hopped into the garbage bin. "Hello Luigi! Well, Happy and I-"

"It's Lucy!"

"Whatever. So, anyways, Happy and I sort of need to hide in here with you for a little bit," Natsu explained, his smile never leaving his face. "The police of Magnolia are after us, and we need to wait until all the ruckus dies down."

Police? "Are you two… criminals?" Lucy asked, almost scared to hear the answer. Pink hair and a talking cat? What an odd pairing.

Happy gnawed on his fish. "Not really. We blew up Magnolia's church by accident, but it wasn't really a big deal. We do stuff like that all the time."

Lucy's jaw dropped. "You blew up a church. By accident. And you do stuff like that all the time?!" Yep, they were definitely criminals. She decided to make a dash for it as soon as possible.

Natsu adjusted his white scarf with a scale-like pattern. "We caught the thieves that were stealing the church's items, but they tried to shoot us with magic bullets. I managed to burn the guns, and Happy got us out of there quickly, but the gunpowder mixed with fire went kaboom!" He laughed a little. "The police brought the thieves to jail and are angry at us for 'destroying public property'." He made quotation marks with his fingers.

Lucy looked back and forth between the cat and the pink-haired maniac. "You two are crazy. Or maybe I'm crazy?" She shook her head. "Have fun doing whatever."

Natsu grabbed Lucy's arm as she hopped out of the garbage bin. "Wait, Luigi!" Happy called.

"It's Lucy, you damn cat!" She shook Natsu's hand off and began walking away.

"Lucy, where are you going?" Natsu asked, jumping out and following the very irritated blonde. "Can we come, too? We have nowhere to go."

Lucy started to walk more quickly. "Go home!"

Natsu and Happy looked and each other and ran to catch up to Lucy. "Lucy, wait up!"

Lucy turned around, put her hand on her hip, and leaned on her right leg. "There are some people who are trying to find a new home without getting captured, and others who are a tag-along nuisance. Can you guess which people you two are? Leave me al-"

Natsu kicked her legs, causing her to fall down. His hands lit up with flames as he looked down the alley. "Who are you? I don't recognize your smell." His tone of voice was terrifying and quiet.

Lucy cowered in fear. What was with the sudden change in personality. This Natsu was totally different than the one from 30 seconds ago. (Happy was the same, though.)

A slim-looking boy with multiple bruises and cuts whimpered as he covered his face with his arms. Both his hair and his eyes were onyx, and he seemed to be only slightly taller than Lucy, probably around two inches. He was cute-looking, and seemed not very dangerous. "P-p-p-please do-don't h-h-urt me," he stammered. "I'm j-j-just trying to f-find a pl-place to stay."

"What's your name?" Lucy asked.

The boy blinked. "Rupert. Rupert Blackstone."


	3. Magic

**Chapter 3- Magic**

"Rupert. Rupert Blackstone."

Lucy's eye twitched. Blackstone was the family name of one of the richest families in Fiore. If this boy was related to them...

Natsu quenched his flames, but his nose was scrunched together. "I don't like your smell. Where are you from?"

Lucy held out her hand and helped Rupert stand. He gulped and replied, "I… I used to be a s-servant of th-the Blackstones. It's not actually my last name, but that's how I always used to introduce myself… When I was told to introduce myself, I mean."

The onyx-haired boy's stutter began to subside. His back straightened as he became comfortable when he realized that Natsu wasn't going to beat him to a pulp. "I ran away from the mansion. It was too much." He unconsciously rubbed his bruised and scratched arms.

"So we're all runaways, then, huh?" Natsu and Happy smiled. "That's great! We can help each other. I'm Natsu, this is Happy, and this is Lisa."

Lucy kicked his leg. "Not even close. I'm Lucy. L-U-C-Y! LUCY! Remember it!"

Rupert looked at Lucy carefully. "Lucy… and you're on the run?" He gasped. "You couldn't possibly be Lucy Hea-"

"NOOO!" Lucy smacked her hand over his mouth. "I'm Just Lucy. I have no last name." She eyed Natsu, who was in an in-depth conversation with Happy about the best way to serve fish. Lucy sighed with relief.

Natsu looked up in the sky. "It's getting kinda dark. Do you guys wanna go home tonight?"

They were all silent. "Natsu, that was terrible," Happy chided. "The word "runaway" means somebody who ran away from home."

Rupert shook his head. "No, it's okay. It was a slip of the tongue, right Natsu?"

Lucy lifted her head cockily and took out a Golden Key. "Open, Gate of the Maiden! VIRGO!"

A flash of light caused the three companions to squint, and a pink-haired female in a maid outfit bowed to Lucy. "Hello, Princess."

Natsu, Happy, and Rupert all stared at Virgo. Happy poked Virgo's leg. "What is this?"

Virgo looked at the cat. "Punishment for startling your friends, Princess?"

Lucy sighed. "No, Virgo, you're not getting punished. Do you mind digging three sections underground for us to sleep in? We don't want to get caught, so it would be nice if the locations were near each other and hidden well."

Virgo seemingly disappeared. Natsu's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets, but Rupert noticed the hole in the ground where Virgo had previously been. "So she has digging magic," he mused. "That's- WAAAHHHH!"

Rupert fell into a deep hole. He was soon followed by Natsu, Happy, and then Lucy. The holes were all connected by small peepholes for communication.

Lucy fell asleep as soon as her head hit the soft pillow Virgo had provided from the Spirit World.

* * *

"Oi, Lucy!"

Lucy blinked as a ray of sunlight suddenly hit her eyes. "Hieek!" she yelped. Natsu stood over her, shaking her awake.

"Your maid awakened us," Rupert explained. "She said that when you summon- what were they? oh yeah- Celestial Spirits, your magic drains quickly. We gave you water, but there were a bunch of strange-looking men searching for their 'Mistress'. We had to get out of there."

Happy patted Lucy with his blue paw. "You're still pale, Lucy. You need to rest."

Lucy smiled feebly. "I'm just not trained enough… I won't be like this in the future."

Suddenly, Natsu's hands lit up with flames. "This smell… They're those strange men again. Quick, hide!" He ran out of the alleyway and looked around. Happy flew with him.

"Hey, you there! You look suspicious! What were you doing in there?!"

Natsu looked at the tall men with black hearts patched on their arm sleeves. "I was taking a nap. Who are you people?" His voice was low and raspy.

One of the men raised a gun towards Natsu. "None of your business. If you don't have any valuable information, then I can defend my act as self-defense." He pulled the trigger.

"Fire Dragon's…"

The bullet soared towards Natsu as he breathed in. Lucy and Rupert ran towards Natsu.

"ROARRR!"

A blast of burning-hot flames erupted from his mouth. The bullet melted, and the two men were charred. They looked at each other before fainting. Several passersby screamed and ran away.

Lucy gaped. "Amazing… I read about these once. They're incredibly rare, but… Natsu, are you a Fire Dragon Slayer?"

Natsu lifted two fingers in a peace sign. "Aye!" he and Happy said simultaneously.

Rupert stared with admiration. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "I've never heard of a Dragon Slayer, but that was an amazing technique. A flying cat, a Celestial Mage and a Dragon Slayer…" He scratched his head and chuckled. "I feel sort of weak compared to you two. I'm a Plant Mage." A multitude of vines encircled his outstretched arms.

"You are Mages?" a woman's voice asked. Although they were out of the alleyway, the street they were in was not very occupied. They turned to face a red-haired, beautiful, armored woman.

"I saw that fight. It was quick, but impressive. I'm Erza Scarlet," she introduced. "Have you three- four, sorry, cat- ever heard of Fairy Tail?"


	4. Erza

**Chapter 4- Erza**

"Erza?" Natsu repeated. He sniffed the air around her and frowned.

Lucy gaped. "Natsu, you've never heard of Erza Scarlet?!" she hissed in his ear. "She's the most powerful mage in Fairy Tail!"

Rupert looked at the silver armor on Erza's body warily. "Um… Hello there... " he greeted. It was evident that Rupert felt very uncomfortable and frightened by the red-haired woman.

Erza bowed respectfully. "My name, as I declared just before, is Erza Scarlet. I am a Requip Mage, and part of the guild Fairy Tail. Nice to meet you all."

"Mmhmm! Nice to meet you!" Lucy voiced animatedly. "I'm Lucy! This is Natsu, Happy, and Rupert! We're all mages that are not part of a guild yet." She emphasized her ending phrase. Happy took out a fish and chewed on it, unconcerned with the current situation.

"Requip." Erza's silver armor changed into a white sleeveless blouse with a navy- blue ribbon around her neck and a kneelength navy blue skirt. A blue Fairy Tail mark was located right below her left shoulder. Lucy's eyes sparkled.

"Awesome!" Natsu said. "You changed out of that so quickly! Is that requipping?"

Erza nodded. "I can also change into other outfits, but I prefer armor. However, your friend over there seems to be quite intimidated." She looked at Rupert and smiled.

Rupert reddened. "N-no! I'm fine! I was just worried that you were going to a-attack us or something…."

"That's obviously NOT the case!" Lucy whispered irritatedly to Rupert. "Geez, you and Natsu are terrible!" She looked at the blue cat, who was wandering away from the group. "Happy…"

"Aye?" Happy looked back. A whip encircled around Happy and pulled him away in a matter of 2 seconds. The three Mages stood frozen until Natsu ran towards the man who was running away with Happy in his hands.

"OI! YOU BASTARD!" Natsu yelled. He ran like a bullet, and only Erza could keep up. "GIVE ME BACK MY FRIEND, YOU COWARD! WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?! FIGHT ME!"

Rupert stopped running and held out his hands. A magic circle formed at his feet, and plants and vines burst out from the street. They extended and shot towards the culprit. Instead of wrapping around him, the vines tripped the man, causing Natsu to pounce on him right after Happy escaped his grasp.

"FIST OF THE FIRE DRAGON!" Natsu roared. The poor man received a powerful fistful of fire to his face. Blood spattered from his nose.

The man whimpered. "Please don't hurt me… I just thought I heard the cat talk… I need money! I haven't slept or eaten in a week…"

Happy stomped towards the man on his little cat feet and shoved a fish in his mouth. Erza towered over the man.

"Do you think that that pitiful story will make you become innocent?" she growled. Her eyes were blazing with anger. "Your choices decide who you are, not your circumstances. Get a job! Ask for help! Don't be so weak and stupid."

The man began to cry. "I'm sorry…"

Natsu lifted the man up by his collar. " _Sorry_ won't cut it! You almost sold my best friend, you bastard!" He pulled his arm back for a punch.

"Natsu, that's enough." Lucy placed her hands on his arm, then quickly drew back. "There are some people who make dumb mistakes like this. Although this is considered a crime, just let him go." Lucy smiled at the man. Natsu dropped him.

"Thank you, Miss…" the man cried. He wiped his eyes and frowned. "My name is Akihito. I'll remember you, Miss."

Lucy flipped her blonde hair. "I'm sorta hard to forget," she joked.

The man waved before scrambling away. They all watched him until he was out of sight.

Erza looked at Lucy. "You're very selfless and kind. But are you sure that wasn't a foolish decision?"

"Whether it was a foolish decision or not depends on his future choices," Natsu responded. Happy and Rupert nodded in agreement. "Although that's not something I would've done…"

Lucy took Natsu's hand. "But I like you just the way you are!"

They both froze, then reddened. "That's not what I meant!" Lucy screeched. "I just- it was-"

Erza held out her hands to the cat and the three Mages. "Come with me to Fairy Tail!"

They all joined hands. "Let's go!" Rupert yelled happily.

* * *

I reread this and realized it sounded corny.

(~.~)/ Oh well.

Please review, favorite, blahblahblah! This is my first fanfic, and it's actually a lot of fun. I hope you all like it and continue to read!

I try to update daily -.-


	5. Assigned Mission

**Chapter 5- Assigned Mission**

"Hmm…."

Lucy tensed as the small, white-mustached man examined her thoroughly. His gaze pierced her body, and shivers were sent down her spine.

"She has…"

Lucy's ears perked up. The man was speaking!

"Big Boobs!" the man finished. He had a perverted expression on his face. Another Taurus?!

"Nice going, Erza! You brought another hot one into the guild!" The Master pounded Erza's back. The famous model, Mirajane Strauss, cleaned the cups and placed them on the racks. "Master, please restrain yourself," Mirajane said.

Rupert bowed respectfully to the Master. "Nice to meet you, sir," he said slowly. His jittery demeanor had completely changed to a confident attitude. "My name is Rupert Blackstone. I was a former abused servant of the Blackstone family. Please treat me well."

The Master's eyes narrowed, but they regained their original form in less than a second. "Nice to meet you, Rupert. Please behave well."

Natsu wandered around the guild building. He accidentally bumped into a boy several inches taller than him with no shirt. "Oi, you! Watch where you're going!" Natsu growled.

The raven-haired boy turned and bared his teeth. Electricity seemed to crackle in between them as the tension around that area rose. "You're the one that bumped into me, pea-brain! Do you wanna pick a fight?!"

Mirajane frowned. "Oh no, not Gray!"

Gray, the raven-haired boy, made a fist with his right hand and placed it on his left palm. "Ice-Make Lance!"

Dozens of icicles flew towards Natsu, but he jumped out of the way. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu yelled right before he smashed Gray in the face with a fistful of magical fire. Gray flew several meters backwards and slammed into the guild wall.

It was silent. Then, the guild erupted in cheers.

"A Dragon-Slayer?!"

"Sugoi!"

Natsu scratched the back of his head bashfully as the guild members questioned him excitedly. Lucy went over to Gray and offered a hand.

"I was surprised at first by his magic, too," she said kindly. "Fire and Ice Magics are natural opposites. Also, why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

Gray swiped Lucy's hand and jumped up. "You ask too many questions. And I was just caught by surprise! I'm obviously stronger than that loser." He puffed his cheeks, then looked closely at Lucy. "You're pretty damn cu-" He stopped and blushed. "That came out weird. Nevermind."

"NATSU! RUPERT! LUCY!"

A towering giant stomped on the ground. Lucy's eyes almost popped out of her sockets. "The Master?!" she squeaked. Master Makarov was now about 20 feet tall and possessed glowing yellow eyes.

He immediately began to shrink. "Please refrain from fighting as of now. The three newcomers, please come her."

Happy flew around in circles. "How mean, what about me?" he mewled.

Natsu, Rupert, and Lucy all gathered around Master. Erza stood next to him and held out a sheet of parchment.

"Master believes that it would be formal for the guild to give you a mission before your entrance," Erza said. "The Magic Council is… disappointed with us at the moment for destroying a large part of an exterior village…"

A green-haired woman laughed. "Erza, don't say 'us'! It was only you that destroyed that village. Weren't you supposed to prevent them from being destroyed?"

Erza all but shot daggers from her eyes. "Bisca, did you say something?"

"Nope, no I did not."

Rupert took the parchment and skimmed it quickly. "Um… What language is this?"

Lucy and a blue-haired, short girl looked over his shoulder. "That's Ancient Greek!" they both said simultaneously. They looked at each other and giggled.

"I'm Levy!" the blue-haired girl said. "Nice to meet you, Lu-chan!"

Lucy blushed. "L-Lu-chan?" she said, a hint of glee in her voice. "Hi, Levy. I'm… Lu-chan!"

Rupert raised an eyebrow irritatedly. Now that he was no longer afraid of them, his attitude was fresh and rude. "Can you translate this or what?" he snapped. Lucy gulped and put on a pair of red magical reading glasses. "T-the… hm…"

Levy put on a matching pair of glasses, and the two girls worked together to create a translation of the mission.

"'Please come to the village of XXX and defeat the monster that has been terrorizing us. Also please take the horn, for it is said to have magical properties. Reward: 1,000,000 jewels'," Lucy read. "ONE MILLION JEWELS?!"

A brown-haired woman guzzling beer from the barrel wiped her mouth. "Isn't that a B-Class mission, Master? That sounds pretty difficult for a bunch of newbies." During the time Lucy, Natsu, Happy, and Rupert had been in the guild, that woman had finished 7 barrels of booze. Although her speech was slightly slurred, it was quite impressive at how sober she was.

Master smiled. "Cana Alberona, you should know me by now. I'm sure that these three- four?- can handle it. If they can, they'll join the guild, but if they can't…"

A man with black hair covering his right eye in Western clothes frowned. "Master, you've never assigned missions to determine whether people should join the guild. What's the reason?"

"It's something you don't need to know, Alzack," Master said. "So? Do you accept?"

Natsu pumped his fist in the air. "Heck yeah! Whether it's B-Class or even S-Class, I can take it with ease!" Happy flew around excitedly.

Rupert scratched his short onyx hair. "If I can't, I can't. Oh well."

Everybody in the guild looked at Lucy. She smiled nervously.

"I-I guess I have to, huh?"

Natsu grabbed her hand. "Let's go!"

* * *

Mirajane watched the three Mages and the blue cat run out of the guild.

"Master, are you assigning them a mission because of your 'feeling'?" she asked softly so that no other guild members could hear. "What if they don't succeed?"

Makarov smiled at Mirajane. "They are going to succeed, but one of them will not make it back."

Mirajane gasped. "That's terrible! Who will it be? Can we help them?"

"We'll help them soon enough," Master responded. "Don't fret, Mira. None of those four were entirely truthful about their pasts. We'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

Studying to retake the Regents… (-.-) I got an 85 and I have to take it again. (Sigh~ Asian parents…)

Anyways, please review, favorite, blehblehbleh pls!

Arigatougozaimashita! 3


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